Weekend Snapshots

 

This weekend I...

1. Bought 4 new nail polishes. My collection of Essie nail polish is growing rapidly. I especially love the fun names they come up for their polishes--so cute and amusing. I read somewhere that Olivia Palermo's signature color is the 2nd one to the right ("Lollipop"). I'm a huge fan of her style. Homegirl can dress.

2. Painted my nails with one of the new nail colors, "Dive Bar." Definitely digging the color.

3. Met up with a friend for a dinner/coffee date after work. Yes, I worked this weekend. Sigh. But I'm off today, so hooray!

4. Stopped by Old Navy with quickness because they're currently having their Friends&Family sale until tomorrow (extra 30% off) so I picked up this chambray shirt I've been eyeing for the past couple weeks. I see much potential with this shirt.

5. Bought a wall hanging frame thingy? I don't what you call this but it made me stop and think and I really kinda loved it. It's a new addition for my new place and a great reminder to look at because in this busy life I lead it's so easy to forget how fortunate I am compared to a lot of people in this world. 

How was your weekend?

NomNom: Creamy Broccoli Soup

As the temperature starts to drops even more, I yearn for hearty and delicious soups to warm me up. One of my favorites is creamy broccoli soup. I love the creamy yet slight gritty texture of this soup and well when you top it off with cheese and watch it melt into the soup...well, it's game over. An ideal and simple meal for me during cold days would be a delicious sandwich with a bowl of soup, but my tummy would still be content with just this soup alone. Because this soup is meatless, I see this as a great way of incooperating vegetables into my usual meat filled diet. Maybe one of my new years resolution will be to eat more vegetables. Wait, what?

Do you have a favorite soup?

Have a splendid weekend and thanks for stopping by:)

Recipe (adapted from All Recipes)
2 1/2 cups of fresh broccoli
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded cheese (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure 
1. Bring broth to a boil. Add broccoli and onion. Cook for five minutes, or until broccoli is tender. 
2. In a separate bowl, slowly add milk to flour, and mix until well blended. 
3. Stir flour mixture into broth mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until soup is thick and bubbly. Add cheese if desired; stir until melted. Add seasonings and sprinkle with more cheese if desired, and serve.

CapFABB Challenge: Leather

So I recently discovered CapFABB, a fashion/beauty network for DC bloggers. I think this is such a fantastic way to unite all the fashionable bloggers that live in our nation's capital because let's face it, DC is not known to be fashionable...yet. They recently posted their first challenge for fashion bloggers to come up with an outfit or a polyvore collage using leather. (Be sure to check out other bloggers joining in for the challenge!) Funny thing is, I bought these leather shorts just before they announced the challenge so I thought it would be fun to participate.

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse-Old Navy

Sweater-Ann Taylor Loft

Leather shorts-F21

Clutch-Nancy Gonzalez

Necklace-Eddie Bauer

Ring&watch-David Yurman
Sunglasses-Stella McCartney

Shoes-Taryn Rose

Leather shorts are a bit daring and if not paired correctly, it could look...hoochie and well, that's not the look I usually strive for. I wanted to keep the look chic with a bit of edge so I decided to pair it with my new leopard print blouse ($8!!) peeking through a sweater. It's just the right amount of leopard for this particular outfit with out it looking to overwhelming with the leather shorts. Add a pop of color and I'm ready to go. Hope you are having a great start to the week and happy first day of November. Thanks for stopping by:)

Weekend Snapshots

 

This weekend I...
1. Used some of my new Sephora arrivals from the F&F sale.
2. Baked pumpkin whoopie pies for the first time. Will post recipe later this week.
3. Wore my new shoes I bought from last Friday's Last Call NM shoe sale. Such a steal for $45!
4. Discovered quite possibly a new favorite (red) wine from my friend's housewarming/halloween party: chocolate red wine. It reminds me of liquid chocolate truffle. It tastes divine.
5. Hung out around Georgetown area after the crazy unexpected snow we received on Saturday.
6. Spent some quality time with Mandu<3

How was your Halloweekend?

NomNom: Sriracha Chicken Wings

Along with fall like food things such as pumpkin or apple based dishes, football also comes along with the season. *Yay* <insert sarcasm> Anyways, when I think of football I associate it with wings, beer, and totally-not-good-for-you accompaniments. But then I came across this recipe by an amazing food photography couple who blog about their recipes and journeys and let me tell, it is the perfect healthier version of buffalo wings. The recipe doesn't require any butter nor does it deep fry the wings BUT it tastes just as delicious as any buffalo wings. TRUST ME. Did I lose you when I said there's no butter and no deep frying? Well if you're still with me, keep on reading....

This was only my plate. I went back for seconds. Don't judge.

Does this look spicy to you? That's cuz it was. I started to sweat--I mean glow as I was eating my wings.

Whether you watch football or not, you don't need any excuse to eat wings. Try this recipe and I dare you to tell me that this doesn't taste as good as your traditional buffalo wings. Happy Friday.

Recipe (adapted from whiteonricecouple.com)
About 2 pounds chicken wings, lightly coated with oil, tips removed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves finely minced garlic
1 small onion, minced (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Sriracha hot sauce or any chili hot sauce (or more for a spicier sauce)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 425° F.
2. On baking sheet, spread chicken wings out on sheet and lightly coat wings with vegetable oil. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, then flip chicken wings over and bake for about another 20 minutes, or until fully cooked and crispy brown.
3. In sauce pan, heat the 2 tablespoons  of vegetable oil and add onion and garlic. On medium heat, continue stirring the onions and garlic until they are golden brown, but not burnt. Allowing the onions and garlic to reach a golden brown stage will bring out the extra fragrance and flavor. Then add ketchup, siracha hot sauce, vinegar, fish/soy sauce and ground cumin.
4. Stir well and let simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.  After chicken wings have finished baking, toss wings in sauce. Serve warm.